2nd Finished Build Soundwave Madbean Bloviator in Disguise!

[Guybrush]

Just boxed up my second build.  Really happy to have finished it as I had a few problems with soldering irons breaking mid build and screwed up wiring.  I only had enough Envirotex left to do  the top so the sides are left un-coated.  I'm happy with the finish despite a few imperfections in the varnish.  The guts are a rat's nest again.  Need to plan them out better next time.  I've no idea how you guys make them look so neat!

[nzCdog]

heehee... I like your name "electric death pedals" 
Any pedal with an original autobot on it is an instant winner IMO... looks great

[DutchMF]

heehee... I like your name "electric death pedals" 
Any pedal with an original autobot on it is an instant winner IMO... looks great

I agree, couldn't have said it better!!

Paul

[lincolnic]

You guys, Soundwave was a Decepticon. Real talk.

But seriously, this is awesome.

[bigrigg]

Awesome graphics.  Looks like it's off the shelf at Toys R Us!
Love the Bloviator.  Made one too and it is fantastic for some sublte tone enhancements.  It's an "always on" pedal for me.

[nzCdog]

You guys, Soundwave was a Decepticon. Real talk.

But seriously, this is awesome.

OMG fail!  Yes I hang my head in shame... cassette deck ftw!

[Guybrush]

Cheers guys!  Thanks to everyone who helped me with the debugging. 

Awesome graphics.  Looks like it's off the shelf at Toys R Us!
Love the Bloviator.  Made one too and it is fantastic for some sublte tone enhancements.  It's an "always on" pedal for me.

Yeah it's a set and forget type pedal for sure. It's hard to say what it actually does other than it makes my guitar sound better!  Ha. I'm guessing it works best when first in the chain?  

[DutchMF]

You guys, Soundwave was a Decepticon. Real talk.

But seriously, this is awesome.

Oooops.... Too much has happened since my Transformer days.......

[Bret608]

Oh man...I actually had the Soundwave toy itself back in the day! It was one of my faves. It's especially emotional for me that you have the bad-ass jaguar cassette tape on here too! I used to love to make it pounce on Autobots.

I don't think the wiring is so bad...if you had positioned your LED and 9v jack near where they connect on the 3PDT board, it would've looked neater right away. gtr2's boards are good for that!

[bigrigg]

Cheers guys!  Thanks to everyone who helped me with the debugging. 

Awesome graphics.  Looks like it's off the shelf at Toys R Us!
Love the Bloviator.  Made one too and it is fantastic for some sublte tone enhancements.  It's an "always on" pedal for me.

Yeah it's a set and forget type pedal for sure. It's hard to say what it actually does other than it makes my guitar sound better!  Ha. I'm guessing it works best when first in the chain?  

I actually have mine in fx loop end of chain just before delay and reverb.  Fantastic.  I called mine the "More Better" as like you said...that's what it does.  LOL.  From what I understand, technically it actually changes the time certain frequencies are heard.  Slight delay etc which works better for the human ear.  It's like saying all other ways are "wrong" and we've never heard these frequencies shared with others properly until this effect.  Something like that.  Tweaking the knobbies can give subtle to more obvious changes.  I find it enhances clean tones, prettier and clearer type of thing.  Dirt or high gain is more crunchy and articulate.  Not sounding snobby, but I think you need a pretty good quality set up and decent ear to appreciate this effect.  Many say it's useless etc.  Kinda like the "why use a compresor" crowd.  Enjoy.

[Guybrush]

Cheers guys!  Thanks to everyone who helped me with the debugging. 

Awesome graphics.  Looks like it's off the shelf at Toys R Us!
Love the Bloviator.  Made one too and it is fantastic for some sublte tone enhancements.  It's an "always on" pedal for me.

Yeah it's a set and forget type pedal for sure. It's hard to say what it actually does other than it makes my guitar sound better!  Ha. I'm guessing it works best when first in the chain?  

I actually have mine in fx loop end of chain just before delay and reverb.  Fantastic.  I called mine the "More Better" as like you said...that's what it does.  LOL.  From what I understand, technically it actually changes the time certain frequencies are heard.  Slight delay etc which works better for the human ear.  It's like saying all other ways are "wrong" and we've never heard these frequencies shared with others properly until this effect.  Something like that.  Tweaking the knobbies can give subtle to more obvious changes.  I find it enhances clean tones, prettier and clearer type of thing.  Dirt or high gain is more crunchy and articulate.  Not sounding snobby, but I think you need a pretty good quality set up and decent ear to appreciate this effect.  Many say it's useless etc.  Kinda like the "why use a compresor" crowd.  Enjoy.

Thanks for the tip.  I don't have an effects loop on my amp (only got a tiny practice amp at the moment) but I'll try it a few different spots on my board to see where it sounds best.

It's not really an effect that anyone's ever going to rave over but it does what it does really well.

[ncdb07]

Awesome Build! Love the graphics!!!

[GrindCustoms]

Really nice built!

I also enjoy alot my bloviators.

Rej

[Guybrush]

Cheers guys!

I've just had a good guitar playing session with my 3 builds- Thunderpuss, Bloviator, May Queen.  Loads of fun.  All great pedals that do their own specific thing brilliantly. 

When I finished I realised that I'd had the Bloviator turned on the whole time I'd been playing.  I decided to turn it off to see (sceptically) just how much difference it made.  Blimey.  It was unbelievable.  Without the pedal on it was like someone had filled my amp with marshmallows.  The clarity and punch the Bloviator add cannot be praised enough.  I was in a band for 10 years without this pedal and although I'm in no way a tone snob, I always struggled to find a sound I was happy with.  I wish I'd have had this thing then.

It's not a super crazy effect that's going to get you the girls but this circuit is ace. Build one!